I'll Love You (When You Can't Love Yourself)
by KeepSaying
Summary: In which Tony doesn't believe he's a hero and Peter doesn't want to hear it. Because even superheroes need someone fighting for them sometimes.


**A/N** : Sometimes you need to be reminded that you're worth all the love and affection. This fic is your reminder. Feedback is appreciated. Enjoy x

Inspired by _Chöre_ by _Mark Forster_ (A German song. Most translations suck but check it out to get the gist:))

* * *

"Mister Parker seems to in distress, boss. His vitals suggest that he has been getting steadily more agitated over the past ten minutes."

"Wha- Ah- Fuck", Tony cursed when he hit his head on the underbody of the car as he tried to crunch up before the roller board was completely out from underneath his 1949 Mercury Coupe. The car didn't seem to mind in the slightest, which didn't surprise him, but even his AI simply kept talking as if he hadn't just almost split his nose open _again_.

"His heartrate has been well over 120 beats per minute for the past five minutes. His blood pressure is significantly elevated at 170 to 100."

He was already halfway to the nearest suit when he realized he wasn't even sure where Peter would be. What time was it anyway? Was school over already? Was it even a school day? Good thing his AI seemed to have psychic abilities where she was lacking basic human empathy and told him before he had to ask.

"The tracker that you installed in his watch suggests he's still in school. Though according to his time table his last lesson ended fifteen minutes ago."

"Is- Is he involved in a fight at school?", Tony wanted to know, halting his movements with his hand still stretched out and with half of his armor already attached to his body. Did Peter get into fights at school? Was that bully giving him trouble again? He thought they had handled the Flash issue weeks ago... Then again, Peter was really determined about keeping him in the dark about important things like his wellbeing.

"I don't think so, boss", F.R.I.D.A.Y. unhelpfully supplied, "There doesn't seem to be an imminent threat."

"Oh-kay", he turned around, dropping his arms to his side, thinking, "Tap into the voice recording of the watch, F.R.I."

"I think that would be a violation of the privacy setting you have discussed with Mister Parker."

"Well, the kid would feel a lot more violated if Ironman were to show up at his school without reason. God that sounded wrong. Just do what you're told. He can have privacy when I'm dead."

"Very well, boss."

Not a second later the slightly metallic version of a teenager's voice filtered through his lab and he frowned in confusion. That voice didn't belong to either of the two nerds Peter usually hung out with and it didn't belong to Flash. He hadn't known that the kid talked to more than those three people. After just one sentence, however, it became clear what had caused Peter's current distress.

"-posed internship all you want, maybe Stark Industries does a few things right but the truth is, that your dear Tony Stark's fortune is built on blood and death. He's not the hero he claims to be. He never stopped being the merchant of d-"

"No."

Tony all but flinched at the kid's cold and steady tone. Peter wasn't ever supposed to sound so angry. He listened to the kid argue, still unsure whether or not to deploy the suit right away or to get rid of the armor again.

"You have no idea what he's doing to keep all of us save. He flew a nuke into a wormhole, that our government sent, knowing it would essentially obliterate all of Midtown. He didn't know if he would make it out alive. He sacrificed himself for all of _us_. And he did so without hesitation or thoughts to his own wellbeing. Don't you dare call the person who saved your fucking life the merchant of death."

That was also the first time that Tony had ever heard Peter curse but he let it slide in favor of concentrating on the jagged breathing coming through the speakers, worried the teenager would start hyperventilating and eventually pass out.

The other boy scoffed and the billionaire could do nothing but watch the red numbers, that were telling his kid's blood pressure, continue to rise. And his mind was still battling about what to do. Was this really an argument that Ironman should interrupt? Where the hell was Ned anyway?

"Oh yeah, maybe he did that out of the goodness of his heart. Or maybe because he was still feeling guilty. And what about Sokovia? What about all the people that died so your supposed superheroes could have a little party? What about your dear Tony Stark's Ultron? What about that German airport they destroyed because they couldn't get their heads out of their asses? He somehow even got Spiderman to fight on his side. That guy would be better off without ties to Ironman. People actually-"

"Shut up!", Peter yelled and the sound made Tony's stomach curl in hatred for the person who had elicited such a furious response from the usually calm and happy kid. "You have no idea what you are talking about! He was fighting to keep us safe from their flaws. They're heroes, they're not perfect. He was one of the ones who actually signed the Accords, no matter how much they needed amending, because he believes that superheroes need to be held accountable, too. And Spiderman- Spiderman wouldn't even be alive without Tony Stark you, you-"

Before Peter could actually find an insult to throw at the other's head, another familiar voice sounded through the speakers in Tony's lab and he thanked the gods for Peter's best friend finally making his entry.

"Hey Peter", Ned called, either oblivious to the tension that was palpable even through audio or actively choosing to ignore it, "Your ride is outside and he's getting annoyed at the delay. Sorry, Matt, we gotta go."

A short pause in which all Tony could hear was the metallic scratching and shuffling of fabric and then hushed voices. "Come on, dude. Let's get outta here."

Peter seemed to follow Ned's lead because he heard slow footsteps echoing through a wide room. And thankfully the kid's heart rate was slowly returning to normal. Even his blood pressure had gone down to 140 to 90 since Ned had gotten there and for the first time since getting the distress signal, Tony felt his own heartbeat calm down, too, and he let out a breath.

He logged out of the watch's audio once Ned had successfully calmed Peter down and had dropped him off with Happy and he was sure they were both on their way to the Tower.

Suddenly he felt more tired and older than ever before, well, at least ever since almost dying. He couldn't wrap his head around someone as pure and _good_ as Peter defending him of all people. He had never seen himself as anything other than a major fuck up and he had credited the fact that Pepper, Rhodey and Happy had kept around at all, to them all having to atone for some thing or another they had done in a previous life. There was no way they were sticking around for anything else. No way could someone, who wasn't as thoroughly fucked up as he was himself, ever even consider loving him.

And still here they were. With Peter wanting to hang out with him, wanting to be mentored by him and defending him in front of people in his school when he was already being bullied.

His heart felt too full and he couldn't help but feel the weight of the trust the kid had in him, press down on his torso, suffocating him. It was all too much. He couldn't breathe, couldn't figure out how to be this person that Peter saw in him and he couldn't bear to disappoint him again. Not him.

 _Fuck. No. Not a panic attack. Not now. Nonononono._

Without his command, the part of the suit he was still wearing started flying him to the nearby couch, depositing him on it before slipping off of his body so he could curl into himself.

 _In. 3, 2, 1. Out. 3, 2, 1. In. 3, 2…_

He managed to pull himself back from the edge, something he had gotten a lot better at recently, especially when the Spiderling was about to show is face. He was refusing to let the kid see him spiraling into a full blown panic attack. So far his thick head had gotten him farther than his improving mental health, though he suspected it did play a part.

Instead of going back to working on his car, he pulled up the Iron Spider Suit and started working on a few minor improvements and new safe keeping protocols – something that never failed to calm him down – and that was how he occupied himself until Peter got there. Trying not to think of how easy it would be for him to break something so precious that he deserved no part in.

 _He wouldn't._

Not quite twenty minutes later the doors to his lab slid open and Tony felt the new presence in the room more than he actually heard the soft footsteps on the floor. He didn't turn around and for a while Peter didn't speak up either, simply plopping down on the couch Tony had occupied earlier and watching his mentor work in silence.

Then, really quietly, barely enough to reach the mechanic's ears hadn't he been waiting for the words, he heard, "Why do you do this? Why don't you tell the world what you do to keep them safe every day? Why do you let them believe that you're not really a hero?"

Tony almost choked on his own spit. So many replies were running through his mind then and he couldn't bring himself to voice any of them because he didn't have the heart to tell this kid, _his_ kid, that he didn't believe it himself. Instead he made up some bullshit excuse about people not needing to know and about them being better off not knowing but of course that wasn't enough to convince Peter. He had the uncanny ability to see through his crap from still a mile out and he was currently not even five feet away.

The teenager was watching him with knowing eyes. Eyes that went right through his superficial _Tony Stark persona_ and into his soul, dissecting every inch of it without judging. He hated being so see through to people, he hated that apart from his friends who had dealt with him for years, this boy had managed to walk past all his walls and really _see_ him. He adverted his eyes, busying his shaky hands with some (useless) reprogramming of the suit.

Still, he didn't turn his body away and that seemed to be all the incentive Peter needed to walk up to him and rest a hand on Tony's shoulder. Of course he had picked up on Tony not being too fond of being touched and tried to avoid it especially when he knew Tony was on edge.

Although, that wasn't entirely true. A fact he had only started to realize himself – Peter's touch was okay. It would always be okay.

"You know you're a hero, right?"

The kid's voice sounded so self- assured and certain where it was usually rambling and timid, that he had to look up to meet his eyes. He said it like there was nothing that could convince him otherwise, and maybe there wasn't, because he was stubborn, too.

Meeting the warm brown eyes of his mentee had been a mistake, though, because at seeing the unconditional loyalty (And love? Was that love?) in them, he felt the tears that had been threatening to spill ever since listening to him defending his honor actually fill his eyes and had to blink them away in favor of being able to see Peter's face.

Also, he refused to cry in front of the teenager.

He didn't deserve the look he was getting but he couldn't bring himself to look away. Something in him wanted to make him see that he was not the man Peter believed him to be but as much as he believed it himself – he couldn't, for the love of it, bring himself to dim the hope and trust in the kid's eyes with his own self-loathing. He refused to be responsible for Peter ever having to see more darkness in the world than he absolutely had to. And even that he would fight tooth and nail.

Instead he stayed quiet, silently enjoying that the teenager didn't move away but after a moment it felt as if their moment was over and before it could get weird, he started to turn back to his work. The small hand on his shoulder with the strong grip wouldn't let him, though.

The billionaire didn't tell him how the touch grounded him, just raised an questioning eyebrow and that seemed to embarrass the kid, making him get flustered but never actually releasing his grip or loosening the strength he still projected with his eyes. Right now he was being strong for both of them and he seemed to realize it.

Tony hated that he had to.

"You're my hero", Peter told him quietly, unwavering even as his cheeks were turning pink, "Not just because of Ironman but because of you. Tony Stark – genius, inventor, mentor – is my hero. You are a hero."

The repetition sounded like a mantra and maybe it was and it was all Tony could do to stare up at him, still not quiet believing. Some 15 year old kid's words couldn't erase everything Tony had been told to believe his entire life but they were a start because he could already feel part of the armor around his heart melt.

It was obvious that Peter thought their moment was over then, that he was close to stepping over an undrawn line, so he started his usual nervous word vomit to, metaphorically, take a step back. "And uh. I know you're not into hugs and... uh.. touching in general but I really wanted you to know that and I'm just- I'm gonna go n-"

The grip on his shoulder tightened shortly, then the hand lifted but before Peter could stumble backwards (and right into Dum-E) Tony's Hand shot out, holding the boy back. And then he was standing (he didn't remember giving his body the signal) and, after just a millisecond of hesitation, he pulled the kid into a hug.

It felt awkward at first, both their bodies surprised and rigid next to each other, and he wanted to slap himself and pull away immediately, thinking that this was a mistake. But when Peter's arm snaked around his waist tentatively and the boy's body started relaxing against his own, he could feel, with every fiber of his being that he had wanted that hug since forever but had been afraid to ask.

He should've known. Peter was big on touching but he would never try to pressure because Tony was known for being really big on not touching.

After a moment, Tony relaxed, too, and tightened his arms around this kid who had somehow managed to waltz past all the barriers and walls he had so painstakingly erected.

"Thank you, Underoos", he said in his ear before he pulled away, "That means a lot to me."

He had wanted to give a sarcastic retort of some sort but felt it get stuck in his throat somewhere on the way and he was glad because the smile he got in return was the brightest he had ever seen and he knew without a doubt that his answering smile was just as open and that this kid was one of maybe three people he let see that smile, his real one.

Tony coughed slightly, all the emotion suddenly getting stuck in his throat, and patted Peter's back, "Let me show you the new feature I'm working on for Karen."

It was like a switch had been turned in the kid when he started talking about everything and nothing all at once. Years – hell even months ago – Tony would've threatened anyone who dared to disrupt the silence in his lab with rambling but here he was, enjoying whatever the kid had to say just because he liked listening and knowing what was going on it his brain.

Tony turned back around to the screen, knowing that Peter would follow suit, and started working again. Without looking up again he said "Oh, and Peter? Don't get into fights because of me, will you?"

* * *

"What's gotten your panties in a twist?"

Peter barely had the energy to look up to see his aunt standing in the living room with her arms crossed. "Uh- oh. Hey Aunt May, didn't know you'd be home already." He trailed off with a deep sigh and went back to staring straight ahead at the dark TV screen.

A moment passed and he would've thought she had gone to her room to change into something more comfy like she usually did, hadn't he been so acutely aware of her presence – her heartbeat and breathing pattern so uncannily familiar that it immediately calmed him down. He knew he worried her by sitting on the couch without moving a muscle, still in his Spidersuit minus the mask, but he just couldn't bring himself to do anything about it.

Another sigh, May's this time, and he heard her drop her bag before starting to move towards him, her already soft footsteps muffled by the carpet. He still didn't move but when she sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders he felt his muscles start to relax and he allowed her to pull his head onto her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

He shrugged even though he could already hear his aunt rolling her eyes at his ' _grumpy teenager antics_ ' as she liked to call them.

"Okay, let me rephrase that", she said, her arm tightening around his body, pulling him a little closer still, "Are you physically hurt because of your superheroeing beyond something I can fix with my first aid kit?"

"No, Aunt May", he answered truthfully, turning his head until his face was buried in the crook of her neck, "I'm fine." His voice came out muffled but even he realized that he didn't look or sound fine right now.

"Good." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head like she had done ever since he was a little child and he felt tears spring to his eyes at the comfort it provided. "Emotionally hurt then?"

He shrugged. She sighed.

"Teenager angst? Did something happen at school?"

He shook his head but stopped once her hand came up to the base of his neck, rubbing soothing circles into his skin.

"Superhero angst?" Shrug. Sigh.

"Do you want me to call Tony?" He shook his head, then changed it to a shrug.

At this point he knew she was humoring him despite being actually concerned. It was part of their routine. It was what they had always done when he needed to talk but didn't really know how to go about it. May, in her eternally patient way, simply asked him yes-no questions until the dam burst and he spilled whatever was weighing him down. The familiarity of it all made the corners of his lips turn up slightly.

"Is it about Tony? Do I need to have words with him?" Now she sounded protective and Peter loved her even more for her readiness to go toe to toe with a billionaire superhero just because he might've hurt his feelings.

"No", he let out a deep breath and turned his head until he was facing forward again, while never moving out of his aunt's embrace, "He didn't really do anything. It's just- He doesn't- Ugh."

"Sort your thoughts, Pete", she told him gently, "Then tell me."

The teenager nodded and for a bit he simply enjoyed the feeling of her fingers carding through his curls, trying to make sense of everything he had been feeling ever since he had gotten home. He had been so caught up in his feelings that he hadn't really tried to wrap his head around it so far, he had simply let himself get stuck in the emotional component of it all.

"I told you how today was this meeting with the rogue Avengers and Secretary Ross about amending the Accords, right?" It was a rhetorical question – they had had a very long, very emotional conversation about why Spiderman had to partake in that meeting in the first place – but his aunt nodded anyway, though she seemed a little tense, prompting him to keep going.

"It went okay, I think." It really had gone good. Better than Tony had expected it to which, considering his fatalistic attitude at times, wasn't all that surprising, but not even Colonel Rhodes had believed it to go so smoothly. "There was a lot of talking, not much screaming. It was a very grown up conversation, you would've liked it. There are going to be a few more follow-up meetings until it's all finalized but the cornerstones are already mapped out. So, the meeting ended with scheduling another meeting."

"But that's a good thing, right? Why are you so upset about it?"

Peter lifted his head from his aunt's shoulder then and leaned away to really meet her eyes for the first time that evening. "They scheduled the next meeting for next Thursday." Pause. "That's May 29."

He watched the confused frown slowly morph into understanding first and then she smiled at him, ruffling his hair again.

"He won't be busy with the meeting all day, though, right? He'll still have time to celebrate his birthday."

"You know what he told me, when I asked him why he didn't veto that date?", he wanted to know, suddenly feeling his suppressed anger and smoldering discontent flare up in his chest bright and red. "He told me that 'getting the world its heroes back is a lot more important than some birthday'", he recounted, his voice laced with mock when he imitated his mentor, "especially his. And I feel like he doesn't even realize that he is a hero, too! You know, he goes on and on about how America needs its Captain back when Captain America was the one who left him hurting alone in effing Siberia. He doesn't care about what getting them pardoned means for him! He doesn't care that he'll be miserable once they've been put under his care and supervision. He's going to have to see them every day, May! And he flinches whenever Steve Rogers just moves too fast. Yet whenever I try to tell him that he's a hero, too, he deflects and I hate it. I hate how lowly he thinks of himself. I mean that's _my hero_ he's badmouthing and he doesn't even realize it. He- It makes me so angry!"

"Sorry", Peter added, breathing heavily after his outburst. He hadn't meant for it all to come out like that, he hadn't meant to put all that on May's shoulders because she had enough to worry about as it was. Hell, he hadn't meant to get so angry at Tony, he hated being angry. But he couldn't stop it. It was wired deep into his soul that he had to protect the people he cared about. He just hadn't ever had to protect someone from themselves.

It wasn't that he was a stranger to self- doubt. No, he'd been different all his life and he knew exactly what it felt like to feel out of place and unworthy and just plain wrong but he had always had May and Ben telling him off for thinking like that and he'd had Ned in his corner who was different, too, and who helped him embrace it. They never let him talk down on himself. There had always been someone there to catch him when his doubts pushed him over the edge.

In his eyes, Tony Stark was just what this world needed, what _he_ needed. With all his imperfections and the mistakes he had made and continued to make, he never gave up and never stopped caring about random teenage kids he found swinging through Queens, even though the world had told him off far too often.

"It's okay, baby", May whispered, giving him exactly the right amount of time to wallow in his thoughts before pulling him back up, "Sometimes it's hard to see all the good you're doing when everyone only ever shows you where you messed up. And it's a hard habit to break someone out of. But Tony's strong, too, and he's got a lot of people in his corner. We all just need to keep telling him every once in a while."

"I guess", he sighed in agreement, suddenly feeling worn out now that his anger had run dry, "It's very infuriating, though."

"It is", she nodded and opened up her arms for him to fall into which he did, enjoying how every hug felt like coming home. "But you're pretty stubborn, I think if someone will get through his thick skull it's gonna be you."

Peter grinned, feeling lighter than he had ever since that meeting. "You bet. And I'm getting him to shift that meeting around. I don't care if the other Avengers had some surprise birthday gift planned. I'm not letting him spend his birthday with people who hurt him. Not on my watch."

* * *

"You're invited to my surprise birthday party, too, I take it?", Tony greeted May as she stepped out of the elevator. She didn't even seem too shocked at the revelation that her nephew had effectively messed up the only thing making a surprise birthday party a surprise – not telling the person in question.

"You don't have too many friends, Stark", she gave back without missing a beat, though the playful twinkle in her eyes gave away that she was joking, "I'd be nice to the ones who actually like you."

"So you _do_ like me?", he grinned, accepting her half hug graciously, "Now I'll finally be able to sleep through the night again."

May pulled back, now openly laughing, and found the billionaire looking equally relaxed. "You're looking good", she told him seriously as she took in his faded blue jeans and plain black t-shirt. He was in socks and the only accessory he was wearing was a leather bracelet with an engraved spider she knew Peter had gotten him as an alibi birthday present. There were no sunglasses hiding his eyes and no watch with built-in kill switch. Right now he wasn't Ironman and he wasn't even Tony Stark.

He was just _Tony_. Pepper's fiancée, Rhodey's and Happy's best friend, Peter's sorta-dad and her sorta- co-parent partner.

It had taken her a while to separate _Tony_ from the masks he usually put on for the world to see but it had been worth it. She could see why his friends had stuck around for so long and why Peter had kept insisting that he was 'one of the good guys', why he kept looking up to the man even when he screwed up.

"Don't tell Pep, she gets jealous."

The smirk he shot her would've riled her up only a few months ago but she's seen him with Pepper often enough to know that there was no way he would ever be unfaithful to her. He was like a lost puppy without her and he was smart enough to keep the only woman who could handle him and continuously challenged him. He didn't even seem to realize that it worked the other way around, too, for Pepper.

"Why are you up here anyway? I thought you were all meeting downstairs to get the whole surprising going."

May nodded, "But someone's gotta get you to go downstairs without telling you what we're doing, don't we?"

"Yes, because you've all done such a good work keeping this party a secret from me", Tony shook his head with a bemused smile, "What did you do to get singled out like that?"

There was that low key self- deprecating that had prompted Peter to throw the whole party in the first place but May took it in stride, knowing enough about Tony to know how to talk to him when he tried to talk down on himself. Honesty usually worked best because he never seemed to expect it.

"I volunteered", she told him with a shrug, "Peter wanted to but we didn't think he could get a single word out without spilling the beans and we wanted to give you the chance to act all surprised to make him happy."

"That's very thoughtful of-"

"Besides", she interrupted him, watching his face closely for his reaction, "I wanted to give you your present before you meet the others so you can get those tears out of the way and don't have to pretend you're not crying."

His expression was priceless, May decided, and it was a shame she didn't get it on camera. She enjoyed every second of his micro expressions, though. How his mouth fell open, actually surprised, and he looked like he was about to protest the accusation once he had gotten over the initial shock before he decided to instead mock her, the skin around his eyes already crinkling before the – undoubtedly sarcastic – words could leave his mouth. Before he had formed a sentence, though, May pulled out his present and continued to watch.

He frowned in confusion when he took the book from her that had a small spider and two bigger ones on the cover. She had personalized the two adult spiders – one was wearing her glasses and the other had an arch reactor on its body. The little spider was ambitiously climbing up the water spout while the two bigger ones stood on the ground, looking up at the little one in concern and/ or fascination (it wasn't that easy to interpret feelings into minimalistic drawn spiders). They looked eager to catch their little one when it would undoubtedly be washed out again.

Next to the drawing the nursery rhyme was written in artful calligraphy and after a stunned moment it was that detail that Tony decided to comment on.

"Itsy Bitsy Spider? Really?", he asked amused, "I'm starting to think that your family has a very unhealthy obsession with arachnids."

She ignored him and instead gestured to the book, "Open it. We've only got twenty minutes until we'll be expected downstairs."

The first page of the photo album was a picture of Peter, May and Tony at Peter's last Science Fair. He was posing proudly with his cheap plastic trophy while May and Tony stood to either side of him, sharing a grin over the top of his head.

He met her eyes then and she had never seen him as uncertain and insecure as he was looking now. His gaze screamed _Are you sure?_ at the same time as it begged _Don't take it away_. Frankly, it broke her heart but it also made her proud that he was letting his walls down so completely with her, that he trusted her so much.

She poked him in the side, an invitation to keep going, and watched him flip to the second page, her eyes filling with tears as her own gaze fell on the slightly faded pictures of toddler Peter with his parents and slightly newer ones with Ben.

Tony didn't say a word as he continued to go through the book, pausing ever so often on pictures of Peter he hadn't seen before, but she watched him the whole time and she saw the two lone tears that trailed down his cheeks until they got lost in his goatee. He didn't even seem to realize, too captured by the pictures she had chosen.

There were pictures of Peter on his own, dressed up, doing stunts, just grinning stupidly at the camera or caught off guard. There were pictures of him with his parents and with Ben and her – happy memories that had taken her a long time to revisit. Then came a time when there weren't many pictures of him at all and were his smile seemed a little off.

Towards the end the images had him laughing more and his eyes shining brighter again. There were new pictures, just with May this time, and then came the first picture with Tony. It was a screenshot of the video message Peter had sent her from his 'internship retreat' in which Tony looked at Peter while the teenager grinned into the camera, obviously over the moon.

"May- I can't-"

She shushed him and turned to the next page for him when his hand was shaking too much to grab the paper.

More pictures of Tony and Peter. Some in the lab, some in the park, some in a greasy diner or at Delmar's. There were some with May and with Pepper and with Happy and Rhodey. In everyone, Peter was the center of everyone's attention and his smile shone through the pages, making her smile through her own tears.

On the last page was a picture of Peter from just this week. He was in his Spiderman suit, the mask lying forgotten on the chair behind him, and he seemed oblivious to the picture being taken. He was on a video call with Ned and was hanging from the ladder of his bunk bed with only one arm and leg. The other arm held an Ironman figurine he was flying through the air, mouth open because he seemed to be commenting his adventures.

Underneath it, written in May's chicken scratch – though she had tried her best – was a tiny paragraph.

 _Dear Tony,_

 _you never had to step up like you did but thank you for doing it anyway. Thank you for encouraging him, and for chastising him when it's called for. Thank you for being a dad and a hero to our boy._

 _You're family._

 _May_

She read her own writing over his shoulder and had to swallow past the lump in her throat once more. This was big. For both of them. It wasn't that she was scared he would run because he'd had so many chances to run and had decided to stick around but still, she was nervously waiting for his reaction.

It took him a moment to fall out of his stupor but when he did, she was surprised that he hugged her. Not the half hug they had compromised on for greetings but a fully body hug, in which he held on to her like a life line.

"Thank you", she heard his hoarse voice whisper again and again and again. "Thank you for letting me be a part of your family. Thank you for this. Thank you for everything, May. You're one of the strongest women I know to have raised such a wonderful boy."

For a while they stayed like that, wrapped around each other, until their tears had dried up and their voices weren't as shaky anymore.

"I'd say it was a good call to give it to you up here, don't you think?", she joked once she got her bearings back.

"You're a very smart woman, May Parker", he gave back, finding his way back to his usual snarky self. "Shall we?"

"It is my distinct pleasure."

They sauntered towards the elevator in companionable silence, hands brushing against each other as they walked as it happened with two people close to and comfortable with each other. The photo album had gone back into hiding in May's bag but it felt lighter now that it had been put out there, like a subconscious weight she had carried with her until she had seen the honest tears and bright smile.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. didn't need to be told where to go and so they started their descent without a word until suddenly Tony's voice interrupted the silence.

"F.R.I. stop the elevator."

"Wh- Tony?", May asked, her heart beating faster in her chest when she saw the scared look in the billionaire's eyes, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, a fist coming up to press against his chest. His breathing was accelerating and she reached out on instinct when he stumbled forward a few steps in the tight space.

"I- I can't do that", he managed to get out through clenched teeth and suddenly his eyes were open again, looking wildly around the elevator until they settled on her, widening with panic.

A panic attack. Oh no.

"Relax", she whispered, immediately going into mum-mode as Peter called it, and pulled him to the ground with her. "Breathe, Tony. It's okay. You're okay. We've got all these amazing people there to see you. We're all with you. You're safe."

Tony shook his head though, fighting through his jagged breathing until he could get the words out. "I can't- I'm not a parent, May. I'm not. I'm a mess. I-", his voice broke and he tried to blink the tears away that threatened to take his sight, "A parent should be the one encouraging, helping. He- He shouldn't have to throw me a party to tell me I'm alright. I shouldn't be such a fucking mess. I can't- I can't, May. I can't ruin him. Please. Please don't let me."

Her body worked on instinct again when she pulled his head into the crook of her neck, her hands finding his hair and soothingly carding through it like she would do for Peter.

"We're all a mess sometimes, Tony", she whispered, "Parents are allowed to be messes. God, you should've seen me after Ben's death...", she trailed off, voice breaking, "And I'm still here and so is Peter. We'll get through anything, together, that's what families do, right? You're not going to mess him up. Just... just let him do this for you, try to listen to the people who love you more than to the ones who don't. You can do that, right? Ignoring assholes is one of your specialties. Just ignore yourself sometimes."

That actually earned her a wet laugh and she smiled into his hair when his arm snaked around her waist, stroking her back ever so slightly. Only then did she realize that she was crying, too.

"See, we're all messes." She sniveled. "Parenting is supposed to make you a mess and it's supposed to scare you that you could mess your kid up. But you're supposed to say 'S _crew you, doubt!'_ and do it anyway. Because you're a parent now. Parents are the strongest superheroes the world has ever seen. Nothing can come against us when it's about our kid."

"Sometimes part of our job is to let our kid reassure us, too. Sometimes he needs it as much as we do", she added after a moment of silence that was only interrupted by both their heavy breathings, "This is not a one sided relationship. You get back, too, on occasions. You can't and shouldn't take their gratitude for granted but you should accept it when it comes."

Tony nodded finally and pulled back, leaning back against the wall of the elevator, just as May did the same opposite of him. "Think we can get away with ten more minutes before we go in?", he asked quietly, wiping at his eyes, and May nodded because there was no way she would go anywhere looking like this.

"Yeah, I mean they won't start the party without their guest of honor."

* * *

"SURPRISE! _"_

The doors to the elevator hadn't even fully opened yet when he was met with the eardrum piercing yell from way up high on the ceiling and before Tony had the chance to blink, Peter was already sailing down and with him confetti started falling down from all over the place. As soon as the Spiderling had landed, he started singing – loudly, confidently and horribly off-key – and a heartbeat later everyone else had joined in, too.

Happy and Rhodey were standing in front of a huge "Happy Birthday Mr. Dad, uh, Tony" banner, grinning from ear to ear not even bothered by the purple party hats they were wearing that were complimenting their purple bowties. Each of them held a confetti gun in their hands, aimed directly at him.

Pepper stood a little to the side, rocking a dark blue glittery hat, with a champagne flute in her hand that he was about 97 percent sure was filled with apple juice. She was singing, too, almost as badly off-key as the kid and at least as happy about it, too.

When he turned around, he found that May had pulled out a green party hat, too and had joined the awful singing band, winking at him when his wide eyes met hers.

Tony had had a plan. Of course he had. He always needed plans for everything. And he needed plans in place should his plans fail. He needed so many fail saves that sometimes he ran out of letters in the alphabet to name them. Even though this had been supposed to be a surprise party, he had planned exactly how he wanted to act surprised and, as it usually happened, his plan flew right out of the window when he couldn't even see through the thick confetti shower.

He squinted at his friends – his family – once the song had finished and was about to say something when both Happy and Rhodey made use of their weapons and added some more color to his already color-improved former black shirt. They caught him mid motion and he had to spit out a mouthful of confetti before he could start to chastise them.

"Mr. Stark! Happy birthday!"

Suddenly he remembered why this was supposed to be a happy moment – why he was supposed to be thrilled about being drowned in shards of colorful, glittery paper – just as Peter's arms wrapped around him in the most physical hug they had shared as of yet. He let his body melt into the embrace and his hands found his curls of their own accord. The answering beam was worth the knowing smiles his friends shot him.

" ", Peter giggled, still peering up at him, "You've got some confetti stuck in your frown."

"Yeah, and who's fault is that?", he shot back with a smile even as he let Peter pick the offending piece of pink paper from his forehead.

"It's kind of your fault for frowning on your birthday", the Spiderling retorted and took a step back then.

He seemed a lot more self-conscious now that the adrenalin was wearing off and he was fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie until Tony's hand covered his and he shot him a reassuring smile.

"You want me to throw the gang out for our heart to heart or-"

"No, no it's fine", Peter straightened up and finally met his eyes again, "They know why we're here anyway. The only one who doesn't get it yet is you. So I'm gonna need their support for this. You have to promise not to interrupt or disagree, though."

The billionaire blinked at the teenager incomprehensively for half a minute before nodding. "Seems a little unfair seeing as this is _my_ birthday but fine."

"O-okay, so", Peter started with a slight stutter before squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, "The Cambridge dictionary defines a superhero as someone who has-"

"Wait!", Tony interrupted, hand raised to stop the kid from talking, he imagined his eyes had to be comically wide but he couldn't help but stare, "Did you actually prepare a speech? Like you wrote it down and practiced it and-"

"Mr. Stark!", the teenager whined, glaring at him, "You couldn't keep your promise for, what? A total of five seconds?"

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just, uh", the billionaire looked around the room and, finding no support from his friends, "I'm just gonna take a seat right… uh, right here", he finished a little lamely as he dropped down to the ground cross-legged, watching in amusement when all the adults followed his example until Peter was the only one standing. After a moment of hesitation, he sat down as well, situating himself opposite of Tony, his gaze open and earnest.

"As I was saying, The Cambridge dictionary defines a superhero as someone who has a special strength and uses it to do good things and help other people, as well as someone who has done something very brave to help someone else."

Tony had to physically restrain his hands by sitting on them to not start fidgeting right away. He was also biting down on his lip so he wouldn't interrupt the speech again, no matter how much every fiber of his being wanted to protest.

"I know you don't think you have a special strength", Peter continued, "I know you think that special strength means being physically strong or enhanced in some way or another but that's not true. You have so many strengths that are so much more important than any of that. Some might say that your biggest strength is your brain. You're really really smart, Mr… Tony."

The boy smiled up shyly at him and Tony decided then and there that he would sit through actual torture again if only he kept smiling at him like that.

"I agree. Ever since I was a little kid, I looked up to you because of your intellect. I was in awe of someone who could build their own superhero suit in a cave out of nothing but scraps and determination. Uncle Ben told me that you were hurt, too, and that made you so much stronger in my eyes. You saved yourself when almost everyone had already given up on you and you didn't need enhancement to do it, all you needed was yourself."

 _I didn't do it alone_. He wanted to scream, his chest starting to ache in phantom pain when he thought back to Afghanistan and to Yinsen. But right now he had more important things to do than fall back into that hell and so he took a deep breath and tried to listen to Peter's words. Somehow, miraculously, the kid's voice managed to calm him down. (It really shouldn't surprise him anymore.)

"Then when you came back, you broke with everything you thought was wrong without a thought about what it would mean for your company. You were a hero to many for that alone. And then you told the world that you are Iron Man. You were the first superhero who held himself accountable by giving away his identity."

Tony wondered briefly, how Peter managed to overlook all of his mistakes and all the people that got hurt on his path to rediscovering himself. If it had been some other kid, he would've thought they simply didn't get it but with this particular kid he knew that to be wrong. Peter was smart enough to know that the world wasn't all black and white, he knew about Tony's mistakes and he was a superhero himself, he knew that people got hurt sometimes. Yet here he was, calling Tony a hero.

"Iron Man is a hero", Peter pulled him out of his thoughts again, "But Iron Man is only a hero because Tony Stark is. You're brave and smart and selfless and those are all traits of a hero but what makes you our hero", he glanced around the room, waving at the people sitting around them watching him, "What makes you _my_ hero is your heart."

"You care so much about everyone, even virtual strangers. You care about them so much that you would give your life for any one of them and you have proven that numerous times. You cared about me when you really didn't have to." His voice dropped a little, sounding much softer and vulnerable now when he met Tony's eyes again.

"You put so much time and money into keeping me safe from the moment you first made me the suit. You could've stopped there and I would've been so grateful but you didn't. You continued to protect me from my own mistakes, saving me when I screwed up and fixing the messes I made. Again, you could've stopped there and I wouldn't have asked for more, because this was so much more than I expected but, again, you didn't. You basically took me in – _me_ , Peter Parker, not Spiderman – and you made time in your crazy schedule to hang out with me and to teach me. You never had to do that, no one would've expected you to. But you did it anyway because you care so much, even about some random kid from Queens who manages to get himself into trouble every other night."

The billionaire superhero was already blinking away tears and through the veil he saw Peter doing the same thing, but he smiled through it – the love in his expression warming Tony's heart like only Peter could. His eyes never left the kid's. If they did, he would've seen that everyone was battling with their own emotions threatening to spill over.

"You never had to step up from being a fellow superhero to a mentor. You never had to step up from being a mentor to being more – to being a dad. And yet you did. That makes you the best superhero to me. And it's okay if you won't believe me – us - right away but we'll just keep telling you. Because we love you."

Tony swallowed. Tears were running down his cheeks freely now but he didn't care enough to wipe them away.

All his life he would've brushed the emotional speech off, making a counterargument to every bullet point on the list just because he never had dealt well with compliments. Now, for the first time, he didn't feel the need, though. He didn't want to prove Peter wrong, instead he wanted to prove him right – wanted to become that man that he saw in him – and if that meant dealing with his low self-esteem and not talking back on compliments? Then he'd work his ass of getting better at those things.

So, instead of arguing, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Peter. It didn't take the teenager more than five seconds to uncurl his legs and throw himself into the hug, making Tony almost topple over with the force. He let the tears run freely into Peter's curls and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"I love you, Pete", he whispered so softly only the enhanced Spiderling could pick up the words, before looking up and waving to the others with the one arm he didn't necessarily need to keep his kid close to his chest.

"I love all of you. Come on into the hug. This is probably the first and final time I'm offering you all a group hug."

It wouldn't be. They all knew that. They came forward anyway.

May hugged Peter from behind, one hand patting Tony's shoulder. Pepper came up behind Tony to wrap her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to Peter's hand. Happy and Rhodey gave their group hug its finishing touch by standing to either side of the bundle and acting as a cocoon around all of them.

This wouldn't be the last time Tony couldn't see his worth. It wouldn't be the last time either of them doubted themselves. But that only meant the others would be there to convince them otherwise.

As a family did.

* * *

 _You can find fanart for this (and other incredible fanart) on weartirondad on tumblr_


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